The Canadair Sabre
You could be ~U'" of .... "'g them every dear day Ov~r
SoUI~rn O.rm,any, the Rh,ne Valley Qr Southern
France; liny darts. flashin, S,I'~T in 1he sunliGht at
lb. l,ps of bo:autiful ... cllini: "'-'rI\""ls. Soon they
".."ccnn-crOSS,lIglhcflawl= blueoftMsky, form ing
bill"'" panerns. soarmg Slralght upwa rds "'''ho,,'
warn,ng. hesilallng momentarily 31 the ~ak of the"
climb and then fallinlt hack towards the earth at
.,'er·incrca$,ns sptr<l; then, a.s they r.ccd down the
sky. Ihey would suddenly _m to hang rnOlionless, or
10 disappear .rlUrely. snatched 01,11 of SllIhl by an
in"isible hand . In <tahle ",eatl1tr condItion. this
would (ontlnll( ulll,l the clear sky ,,"'as completely
Q>'ercasl by (hoc" driO",1I. merainll contrails, "hich.
look on the shape of high e,mos cloud" They were
Sllclllly demonstratln@ the: outstandmg manoeuv-
rability of onc: of t~ linest fighter aill'raft In t~
h,story of military ."auon; the Canada" Sabre
lJuttllis ...'asnotlhelronlysismt\car.ce. They""crc
~aring willleSs 10 lhe approachln8 close of the mml
fa,..ln8.lln8 chapter In ""htary flymg; thc wnlien_
lIonal day comhal, challenging la bOlh men and
machines. and o/fen!lll"lCtOf)' to t!lemQ5t su.:ccssful
rumbinalioll of able pilol and SOtlnd alrcI""dfl . The
fiihler had 10 chmb fasl. actticralc quickly. lurn
lilhlly e'~n at hilh altilude, and pro~id( a slable
platfunn for ...·capons dcli,·cry after lhe pIlot had
placed il in lhe best possible allacklnll pos't,on .
These: rfqull'Cments"'ere laid du .... " in lhe Firsl World
Warandl'CmaJned'-dlidinprinciplcunllllheclQ5in,
chaptcroflheClOrttroflhc pure day fightcr . ... hen the
Sabres finally rolled to lhelrlast rest
GE NESIS OF THE CANADAIR SABRE
Wllen Canada entered the North AtlantIC Tl'Caty
Orpnlsallon liS Air ," orce had equIpment "hich was
rapidly becoming obsolete. A modern firsl lLne fighter
BlTcraft " 'as nceded 10 enahlc the R.C.A. I·. 10 fulfil
ils new requiren",nt in Europe. and Ihe choice fell
IOllcally on Ihe bcsta,rcraf, ... hich eXlsled at that
ume. lhe North American Sabre (U .S.A.F. desia-
natloo 1' _86). (Sec Prvfil~ No. 20,)
Smce a large numbcr wu needed. ile"nce produc-
lion in Canada "as intellded. In 1949anallr«mc:nt
" -61i silned by Norlh Amcnean A"13110Jl and Canadair
Ll d .. of Montreal. to build an initial ba,,,h of 100
," ·86A ·s. N A.A waS 10 supply the drawings, and
aboul 90" ~ or the rumpouncnts wel'C all<>dch,-"red by
the Uniled StalC'S 10 Cart ic"'ille airporl. near Moo-
trcal. "here the final assembly "'"lIS takinl pla~.
(Wh,,,,, lhe Canadia" Sabre produClIon finally ended
8 ~" o ofall oompoun<:nls and lhe e"linn wel'C produced
III Canada.) There was an e>.Chansc: of cn"IICCrs
and some 46.000 dra"'lIlilS "'ere SCnt toCanadair.
T he Ca nadian ,-.:rsion of It,., F·S6A rCttI~ed the
desilln~lionCL-13SabreMk. I. II "uuknllcal .... llh
the F·86A-5 and was po,,-.:red by a General El«tnc
J47·GE·1J turbojet engine. producing 5,200 lb.
stalic Ihrust. hcarried tt,.,scrial number iflIQI and
Hew for the first lime on 91h AUBU51 19SOfrom nearby
Dur~a l airporl. "here it had been tOwed "hi ln It,.,
Cart,e,,·ille ru"w~y was bel"lIe." ended. This was jllsl
a ycarBfter the cont racl had bccn s'lned. and a few
daY5 later ,t went supersonIC for the first lillle. Me>on-
whIle N.A .A. had de""lopcd the F_86E "hich offered
bel1erperfonnance.thusti"K=solc Mk. I ,,-as lhe only
ai .. rafr built in Canada to 1·-86Aslandards .
The second alll'raft bUIlt by Canada" ...'a~ a
Cl-I] Ml. 2, equi~alent to ti"K= F..s6E . It also uso.:d
the J47_GE.13 engine. and 1.50 exampl<$ of Ihis type
,,'ere bUilt. starllna ""Ilh SoCrtal number /9/01 , '!"he
first F·86E ne..' on 23rd Seplembe1" 19SO, and lhe
firsl Sabll' Mk. 2 follo""cU jyst one monlh later in
October 19S01
It " 'as C$scntially sImIlar 10 the M~, I but had an
"all·nYIIlIl,allplal\e". whICh " -as ""raduced wilh the
1-·861: after eal'Cful nJahl k'Stilll! of this new eonlrol
systcm. Instead of Ihe nlCChanically adjustable
stabi ll2(CT for tri m contrOl of lhe F-86A. lhe F-86E's
elevator and horiwnta l stablliler were conlrolled
,
and opc"'ted as one unn. l1le
t>o~ilOntalotabiliurwasplvoled
at Its relIr spar SO that the lead_
ing ed(!e was moved eight
dcgroesupand down hy nO<lnal
stiek movement. The ele~ator
wumeo.:hanicllly linted 10 lhe:
stabilturand mo,'aI proportion_
ately to stabiti.er movement.
Elevator t",,'d "'as slightl y
grealer than stabilizer t"'''el
which became effoctlve during
lhe: lasl portIon of slick n"" 'e-
men t at the I""'s~ range
TIM: new .y~'em ehminated many undesirable improvc the Sabrc·. high-al1l'udc perforlllance.
~ompressibility eff~u, such as Ims of control Al the suuestlon of lesl pilou a fixed leading edge
sen,sl ti vity at hiah Mach numhcn, and InoTe positi'-e was tried ,.'hiehcliminaled the drag·proollCtllgeff«tS
Bellon Rnd great(1" control effOCIlVCIl<'$S with less of the MIcndcd slals. Three Itst airclllft SO modified
control, surfau: movcment "",re afforded by the st>owed immediate improvement. ~ fixed leading
controllable horiwntal tail. It had no trim tab5 u edge Wlng'§ "ere o tended six i""hesat lhe root and
I.!mmin, was perf?~ by changing the control tll'lIe inches at the lip and were oflen referred to as
Slick's neutral posllton aoo thereby Ihe angle uf the '6-3' utcnsion. Chan~ of airflow across Ihe
i~idence of the hori~ntallnil pia"", The im:~ersi~lc ,,;ng required the addWon of H"e-i""h high "'ing
hyd",ulic syslem ehm'nDted the customary SlICk fences at 70" ~ of the: span, and "inll area "'as in-
'f«l'. rendering necessary lhe inslallation of an creased from 2H1'9 to 302'3 square_feel, The most
artificial 'f«l' bungcc .~tem to provide the: pilot with important advantage waS the delay of buffetIng at
the: ~ry ~nu'()l fora: f«ting'§, A new nal lillhlturnS thus enabling the pilot to fly IIghler turns
wlll<hhw:ld " 'as IIltroduoed "ith the F-86E-IO"'hieh alhillher,-Ioads. It al5Q P''C slight improvementtll
wasal~adoptedfor theCltnadianSabresduringlhe speed and range. 11""",'cr it also brought along a
produchon process. disad ..~nta8", losing thc excellent low spe.ed charac-
Meanwhile Orenda fnllines Ltd. "ere "'orkin~ on teristics of the sJalled wing, "'hieh ,"'ere of special
a Canadian <ksigned engine 10 mal,h lhe Sabres importance duringlhe landing. 'The smiling speed
airt:rame, and the first examplc, theOrrnda 3, whieh increased from III \no," 10 IHkno,",thuslncreastIIg
delivered 6,000 lb. statklhrust, was installed;n the approach speed "nd landin, run. An un<ksirable
lOOthprodllClionaircr... rt.1920(J,"'hich~amelhe y~w_and_roll eff~t prior to ,he stall also aCCOm-
!!01e Mt. 1 versIon, Thi. engine was the protOtype panied the modIfication.
for the Orrnda 10 production engine. Ori,inally il wu Intended to equip lhe Mk . 4 wllh
The Sabre Mk . 3 "uused by Jacqueline Cochran Ihe Orenda engine, but thIS was changed lA favour
to r~ise the "omen's sP«d record. She achie,ed of simi l:mt y WIth the F-86~. The first ''CrSton to use
652,552 m.p.h, over a lOO-kilometre ~ou,.,.., On the nC"' Orenda lOenglllc, "hieh dct i"cred 6,355 lb.
18th May 195J,and 675 ·471 m_p.h. o,'era 15-kilo- stalic thrust, was the CL_13A Sabre Mk. 5. This
met~ dosed cou,.,.., on 3,d June 1953. n>Odel, aoocal1ed 'The Ha rd-edge I·"·e', used the new
tn 1952 the firsl example of the"",w prodllClion '6-3' c~ter"Jcd leadinJl: edge ",ilh "'ing fen<;cs. T""
~~~ i~~~"!;n~~s:.a~~'~~~~I~dlti~n:~~':!~~
pressun'.ation controls and canopy release mecha_
nism, 'The rnnopy ~ould now be j(=lIisoned scparnlc1y
in case of clner(!CrIC)' landing, instead of only upon
~~~~: Ihe ~~~~~atri;:l~cl~~0.s!5,:,h ~~~~~
near amidlhlps 10 lhe rear of the fuselage. Apart from
these chantln the Mk . 4 W," similar to the: N.A.A.-
built F-S6E,
follo"..inll expef~nce gained "'ith early Sabres
"'hkh had. aUlomatically e~tcndmg WIng slau,
N.A,A. engmeers were searching for ",can~ to

=:.:!;1.i...."';'.:f,":.:j,1;:.;"N_r "(;!~~~-:i:"~~:'~

o .~

first MI:. S, 1JOQI, "'<OS completed <In 2 1 ~t of Jul)'.
I~Sl and took the air for the first time a few day~ lat~r
on )(hh of July. It had a clear advantage O"er the
Mk. 2 by reach"'g 40,00) ft. in nine minutes, only
half the I,me of ils predecessor.
T he Orendll Cnll'lle "''Uslijlhtly larjlCr in diamcter
IhantheJ-47.~nalinlenlarjtementofthefrnm.,
opoeninl5 over the cnlline bay, provision of d,/fe",m
pick.up points, and some minur loe;ol st ructural
ch;onp. Entpty ... d,hl ... as in<:~ from 11,00)
lbs, W 11 ,36S Ibs., and loaded ",e,ght (clean) from
14.640 Ibs. to 1 4,~J6 Ills. Sabre Mk. SA ... ;o~ thc
deo;illnatiunapplied tu thu!IC:lIircrart in ",hichccrtain
rddar and !lun si&ht units had been re",oved and
replaa:<l b)I ballast,
On 20th Ap,,1 1~S4 tnc: 1,0000h Canadair Sabn:
was complf:ted, and the Mk . 5 version production
run had reached a total of 370, It was follo"'cd by
thc lasl and best Canadian Sab",.'ersion, the CL-IJB
Sabre Mk. 6. This aircr;oft ....-as equipped "",th the
t"Q-staJIC O",nda 14 enginc, "hieh delivered 7.27S
lb. stat,c thrust. Thc first eumple. ])J71 . ... as
completed on 2nd No"ember. 1~S4, and climb rate
and altitude Pl'rformann: "ere ato:llin consider~bly
,mpro,cd. Empty and . loaded ,,'cilll~t s ... en: less t!lan
th<»eofthe Mk. S. Wllh theeJIcephon o(K1meearly
am:raft thoe Mk . 6 re.'erled 10 thoe sJalled "''''S 10
comb,"e iu .,:<cellem low.specd char~cteristie. wnh
the advantage of thoe '6-3' leading edge. This.1n
combination with the "'-C:lght sa'-ins and In<:reascd
thrust of the Orenda 14. made the Mk. 6 the best of
all Canadair·built Sabres. In (acl it wa. lhe best
'-c:rsion in o'Cf"dll performar>ec of all Sab", versions
built, includinK tn., I'J·4 rury. For comparison.
pcrformar>ec dala for lhe Mk 5 "nd M k. 6 can be
ta~cn (rom a table appcanng al the cnd of th'5
pMfil/!
A lotalo(655 M k.6:s\\crebuilt.andtltecomplcte
number of Sabres buj[! by Canadair totalled 1,8IS.
tlte last onc I><:ingcompleled on 91h of Oclober. J9SS.
36 Mk. 6:s ordered by Arlll'ntina \\-c:recancdled due
to I~~k of fortllP"' cxchanjte, and 24 Mk. 6s tnlended
(or brad "ere car>eclled fOf" polnieal reasons,
The Royal Canadian Air Force rccci"cd the hon's
sh"re of the Canadair Sabres to form Canada',
N.A.T.O. conlingcnt in EuroPl', the No. I Air
Di~ision. It consiSled of four day tighter wings,
Nos. I, 2, 1 and 4, each compr ising thrc.: squw.lrons,
The first SabrcsconHngofflheasscmbly line< ...cre
dcl"'ered to 1'-0 1 Wing .... ilh Nos 4)O , 4J~"nd 441
Squadrons as lhe iniual pari of
the N.A.T .O. commnmcm.
New air basn for the: R.e.A, F.
had to be built: MarvilleandGr""
Te!\'luin in Fnor>ec. and Z"-c:i-
brueden and SocLlinJlCn in
Germany. No. I Fi&hler Wing
was Ihe linit",inlto b<:scnt O\-c:r_
5<'''''. ltmo"oo initially to North
Luffcnham in EnJ!and as a tem-
porary home ba§e umil its final
~~~':'I::~r;,~.le, "1U ready 10
With Ihe European commitment, In., R.C.A.I'.
slarted a new schoemc of 5<'ndin, its a'''nlfl to Ihe old
world. A(ter official formalion of No. I Wing, on
ht o( No.'ember 1951 at Nurth Luffen!lam, and the
preparat,on of the airfoeld 10 accommodate the ""hole
winK, the time ....~s "PI' on )(hh May. J~S2 for a
complele squadron of Sabra Mk. 2. No. 43~, to take
off from Uplands, outside Ottawa, 10 'nake the fi~1
leg of Ihe", Atlantic crossmJ 10 their rlcw base. Tlte
operation was called 'Leap Fro, One', and lhe firs!
part of Ihe roule was WQ llasotville. and Goose Bay,
Labrador. where the actual ocean crossing began.
Nexl slap was Ilt Bluie West One, Greenland, In.,n
Kef\avik. Iceland, and across to R.A.I'. KinloS! in
Scotland. The final leg was from the!"C: to Norlh
Lufrenham. [)r,;pote some bad weather, whiCh kept
Ihe Squadrun Kruunded during lheir trip for K1me
da)'s, In., crossing "as sa(ely and s.uca:ssfully COrn·
pleled. and on 15th of June, 21 Sabres shut down
Iheir en,,,,cs al North Luffcnham for lhe first time ,
Only the Squadron's e.O. was forced to live up early
durin, the crl>to$Jng duc 10 an attack ofappc:ndicitis.
This first Allamic cross ing acted as the pattern for
many ITI()f"C: erownll' in bolh d'rections. The majority
of the Squadron'. Jround crew ",-c:re flown O,'er
before tn., Sabt"C:s' deparlure, and other JVound
crews a<;l;ompanocd the Sabres to provide maime-
nano.::~"r"'II~. Two days bcfuretheirdepaTluI"C:from
Uplands lhe squadron was inspc:octed by Defence
MlnlSler Claxlon. who re(erred 10 lheir cominll Hi&hl
as "., ,0 neuflhe....,aleStdcr"Il<)nstr.tionso(tcam·
"ork }ct to ~ found inanyoPl'r.tion,civilormilitary."
 Arrival of 439 Sqn. bmus.ll!
IM R.CA.F:. Nu. 1 Fighler
Wong 10 ,b full comptc,n"nl of
Ihr<:eSabre gquadrons. Aircraft
forlhe firsl [WO gquadron~ (NO'!
410 and 441) made Ihe ocean
crO SS in, aboard /I,MC.S
M'lKlllji.... nI. The e"ample!;Ct
by No. 439 Sqn. ""as soon 10
be followed as H..CA .F . fighler
Slrenl,II in Europe ,,"S building
up. No. 2 Wine. compriSing
Nos. 416. 421 and 430 Squad-
rons. lie.... its Sabres over lhe
Allanlic tu Gros Tenquin in
Oclober 1932; Nu, 3 WinK. Nos
413. 427 and 434 Squadrons.
llew 10 Z".."bruecken early on
1953 : and No. 4 Wine. Nos
422,414and444Sq,,"(l rons.
made ,110 Sotlhnllt'n ,n s",pl_
ember 19S3, bnnling lhe Air
Divisiun up to ,to uper.tional
.t'''''lthofaoout300Sabres.
Nu. I Wing mo,·ed 10 Mar'il~.
tMir final home ba~. early in
19S5
When lhey first arrived ,n [urope the Canadian Ihe cnd of 11156. NOlle oflhe H. .CA.F. Sabre gquad·
Sabres had a s uperoor pcrforrnance tu any oth"r rons h~u remained ,n Canada afler Ihdr formation.
N.A .T .O . alrc .... ft and prmided a powerful rem_ lea,mgairdcfenCClhcrcwlclyto theCI' _I00. which
forcement for the alhance. The" main task "as event"allya\su replaoed OtIC of each European Fighler
patrolhn, the Air l)efer>o:e ldent,ficat,on Zone along Wing·s Sabn: "Iuadruns. In mid- 1936 IwO non-
the 'Iron Curtain· and ",and,ng 'Zulu alert' 10 regular un,IS m Mootreal. Nos. 401 and ~3H Squad_
mtercepl unlden"fiw aircraft. In all "Xercl!oeS. WM. rc<;e,~cd SOme of the d,seard.-d Sabre Ss. and
especially ,u"''''ry oompet itiOM, IM Canad,an Sabres laler on s,~ of the Au~iliary Squadrons flew e'ghl each
and lheir pilols pro'·cd again and again lhe"superior of Ihc<e fighlcrs. togcllx-r ""h Vampires. T· 33s and
qualities anu remainro to Ihis Slandard to their Ia.t Ilan-aruMk.4s_ 1',1",,.,un,ng"·aslli'cnbytMNn. I
da~, "hen the Sabfd iI'l'" " -dY to 'he CF·I04 . To (ri~hterl O.T. U" the Sabre "''''''sitioo Un;1 at
"'a,nlain lhe" performa".,." margin. the o"gmal Chalham. New Brunswick. whoch opernles the 1~51
Sahre 2s and 4s "cre replaoedearly m 19S4 by lhe ~bres "ilhin I~ R.C.A,F. in ~rder 10 pro,·,de pilols
Sabre 5,and ,1Icsc: on turn (!:li'c way IU the Mk.6al w'lh c~pcricn,,", on h'gh ,uMonoc P<'rformanc.: and ,n
10" le,cI taclil.-s before thcy.tart flying IMo Mach·2
CF.I04
The dlrecl ferrying of lhe Sabres for the Air
Di viSIon 10 [urope led 10 lhe formation of a s pecial
unit forlhe purposc of bronlmB lItWa'rcr-. . fI from the
manufacturer to the custon-..:r. Th,s " .... No. 1
O . F.U . (O,'crscas Ferry Uni t). R.CA.F .. wh,ch was
furmed in Oclober 11I~3 . This unit worked most
successfully during .1 S U'Slcr>ee, using the rOUle
"hoch""sfi"'ttricd by No. 4JIISquadron until il was
d,soondcdmJuneI9S1arterlhelasISabrc6hadhecn
delivered 10 Europe aoo Ihe last Sabre 5 had hecn
flown back to Ca nada, More than 1.000 Sabres and
T-3ls wcre Ao"n across lhe Atlantic "'"houl a
.mgle aO:;I(\cnt. Ihe polots of lhe O.F.U . SClLing a
IIIOrcty r",:oru for thousands of )Cl hours, a trans_
Allantlc ferry r<:corol and also a c~O$-.·Canada speed
record . T he lalLcr"".tSset by two pIlots of theO.F.U ..
FIL. H.alph Ann;s and no. R , J. ·Ch,ck· Childcrhosc.
on 2~th August 1956. when Iheyflew lhelr SabrC'5 from
VallCQu,'er 10 Halifu. 1'00'01 Scolla. In r"" hours
and ).() seconds wilh one intermNIiale laOOing 91
~:::'~:e!~r n:fuelling which "as compleled In niAC
SI\I} Sabres of lhe Mk_ 2 "ersion 'Hre deli,'cred 10
lhe U.S,A F, In I'U! 10 acu:lcratc the build·up of
fighlerSln:ngth in Korea . They ""ere bUlII byCana.
dalr on contract A!-·9)~6 and 5("e<l "'ith 41h Mnd
Sht WinllS. and latcr ",·ilh Air Nallonal Guard uniUi
The ne~1 nalion 10 use the Canadair Sabre "as
Great Bril-illn. "hen: it waS decided III 11132. despite
sonW:CrlliclSm, loadorll n unlllthe first Brit"h '''''Pi
.... inll jel fiahtcr became avai lable. The R.A.F.
.-..:ei"ed4JOSabres,bolh Mk. 2 and Mk.4aircraft.
under MDA .I"'. funds. The fint thr<:e Mk . 2$
( .... lIh ReA F. ""rlals 19J78. /9J/l4 aOO 194(4)
am,-"d 31 1'n:s1""'lCk. Scotla"d. i" Oc{oher IIIS2.
They. and {he Olhers 10 follow. "'ere flown 10 England
by No. I long Range !-erry Unll (later No. 147
Sqn.) of Transport Command III an oJICralion kno ....'n
... '&ehers 8rook" "hich IMs{ed from 8th Decemher
11132 10 IllIh D«ember I'lS). The firsl ootch "'as
handed o~r 10 lhe R.A. F. III a ceremony a{ Arnngdon
III Ja nuary 19S). and III Ma y ~hortly before Ihe crnJ
of the Korean war, Nos. J. 67 and 71 SQns, were
(he finl umts to "-'CC;,.., Ih" type. thus becomlllll
the first I""pl "'inll R.A. F. fillhler squadrons.
MosI of lhe Sabres WtflllO len R.A.f. squadrons III
Gennan) (Nos . 1. 4. 20. 26, 67. 11, 93, 112, 130 and
234) as p;lrt of N.A .T .O. Second A.T.A.F .• but t",o
UK.·based fighter command S(juadrons, Nos. 66
and 92. Were a lso fl}'ing Sabres. They P"c lhe R,A . F.
a fiahtc:r In lhe 7011 m,p.h . class at a critical period
",hcnEa3;I.WC'Slrclationswerelensc. lnlhcsprlllgof
1955 lhe first Huntcrsarn\"ed In Germany, gradually
replacing the Sabres. and by lhetfld of June 19S6all
Ihe: SabrC'S had bc:cn replaced by Hunters, the last to
Iea"e being XBMO of No. 3 Squadron
A. the ",,"-er Mk. 3 and Mk . {, Sabres bocam"
a,-ailablc for the R.C.A. F .. most Mk . ls and 4s "'ere
tilled wnh '6-)" c:xlended leading edll" wings and
Othe .....·IS<' moo:\cm,...,d . They "c:re then dcsill"M{ed
F.86E(M)-the 'M' denoting modified-and under
Ihe: M.D.A. ". I'rogran'mcdclivereoJ 100lner N.A.T.O
nationl, IkginninginJul yl'l34.GrtcCCrecei ,'ed 104,
and Turkc:y 105. of these liahlCfI. MOSloftheex.
R.A_F. Sabres ,,'ere al$O lran.fcrred toother Europc.an
nalions, "'nh 180 going 10 It aly and 12110 VUII<>-
slavia. Italian units uSi ng the Sabre: i"cluded lhe
4° Auoorigalo, comprising the 9. 10 and I]
C",pp;, and the] Sw,,,,o. These Sabres ...,achod
international fame wnh Ihrillinll di.plays executed
by lhe: "arious acroOOtlC lea,n~ of the: l.i\ .F.. the
R.H.A, F. and T .A,F.. and ill Callada Sabu, wen:
used by the R.CA . F:. 'Golden Hawks' acrobatic
::";.l~~~h waf disbanlk-d afler havin .. fillally used
The Mk , 6"eflion "'''' also exported. Six aircraft
"..,..., built for Colombia. and deh,'cred in J~ ne 1936.
Thirty ·four Mk. 6s ""re ~ompkted for Soulh Afrka,
"'''''re Ihc:y",!u ippcd N .... I and 2 Squadrons until
thc,r rcplacc,"cll{ in 1%4 by 11-..: Miraae III CZ.
l.arlJC'S t fOoreign cu.tomer, apart (rom the R.A.F.,
",a. WC'l1 Germany. Thi. counlry received the final
Mk . 6 production balch 0(225 aircrafl which C(juip-
red three da y r.""ler win~. JG 71 ' Ih c:hth<:>fen',
JG 72 and JG 73. Pilot {raining ,,'U provided by
W"If~IU'~ltul, 10 in Oldcnburll. When lhe F·104G
(see Profi/. No. 131) 1:Iecamc: available JG 71 "".
chantl<'d all ils Sabres (or lhe new Iype:. but JG n
 !~~~~nnnd the Mk. 6 ",mallled the final proooction

A number of alfnafl were mOodified for various

purposes. OM Oof the R.t\ .I' . Sabres. XIJ9/Jl. had a
BristOoI Siddeley Orpheus engine installed and ,,'~
test.HOo .... n ,n 1958. A number of G erman Mk. 6s
were equipped ..... ith S'de .... inder rocket.launching
rails. mounted between drop tank and fuselal!". T he
Sabres Mk . 6 Oof JG 71. JG nand WS 10 Oof the
Lun,,·.lTe ..... ere equ ip ~ .... ith Mk. 5 Marl;n Baker
ejcclion seau. (Thl> modifICation ..... as first introduced
in the F·H6F'. of ,he No .... "g,an Air Force). T he
inSla\lation reqUITed some m,nor changes in the
cockpit and a MW CW-'Or>Y open'ng and lock mcs:ha·
nism. E;":t'on is tllrough the plc~,gtass of the canopy
AnOther modifICation applied to a few of Gennany'S
and 71 oominucd to use Sabres in thcfightcr·bombcr Mk. 6s ..... as the IIlStallaHon of Dol Mar RAlXlI'
rble with one squadron each. the other squadrons ..... eapons Ira,ning sYStemS This COonsist.' of a ..... ing.
usinll the Fiat G·91R3 (see Profil~ No. 119f. 60th mounte<.! launcher, a ,~dar reflecti>''', Iillht",e;Ght tow
unilS' desianatiorlS "'ere ch~nllC<l to JAIK) G (for
JagrJbo",b<-rru~h'''<k') 4] and 42 rc:spe<:ti,-cl}'. and
a number of Sabre: t>s are still /lying at the time nf
writing. Germany also TC(!Cived 7S M~, Ss, wh,ch
,,-cre primaTlly used by WS 10 for con"e~ion
trainin,'. Dur in,l966 ni ... ty .urplus Sabres M~.6
""re sold by Germany to the fmpcrial Imnian AIr
1·0=,
MOOtFt CATIONS A ND DEVELOPMENTS
Canadair had also "'orke<.! on funher d..""lnrments
of the Sabre 10 increase its rrodllClion nnd e~tend liS
usefulness. One of these projects was the CL·UC.
This W!t!l a Sabre 6 u.i ngan aFterburner, One aireran
,,'as test.f\own "ith sueh an afterburner at the w
Natiooa l Aeronautical Eslablishment, alld the la~t
ten Sabre 6s for the LuFtwafl"e were in facl held back
by Canadair for possible use in the test programme
before beinll ddi'ere<.! to Gennany about a year
after the others
The CL·UD waS another SUII'-'StOO variant, ,',h,eh
....'as to ha'" an Armstron,·S,ddc1cy Snarler ~ocket
molOr, "h,1e the Ct ·DE was the ! Ist Mk. 5 w"h the
fuselage faired to the IIO-QIllcd 'Coke Bottle Shapc' to
tcstan application of the area rule. This last variant
was said 10 show no discernible imfll"ovcmcm in
performance.
:r.
Other pro;":tS ...... the CL.UG, a two-scat
training '-crsion similar to Ihe American T r·86F; the
CL.11 11 .....,ilh all·"rather radar equipment. and the
CL· Ill. which waS to utilin: ~ simplified 8ri,tol

.
Siddeleyaftcrbl.lrncrforbl.1terclimballdac'CClcration.
NOone Oof these variants ho"-c"er pa.scd the design
• 1"'~"'/.t'I"Iyu.()ftf'h1o<l.
tarllCt and a tow.......,1 for high ~pccd ta'iCt towing.
1l>e tow tarlCt can be ""'tended IQ ~ m~~imum IenKth
of about 2~.OOOf~""Ct Pt spco:ds up to 400 Kt'. or Mach
0·9. AIrcraft thuscquippt.'d ha,·c bcen handed owr to
aci"I l comraclorandarenyinlwithci,·ilrcKistr.tions
T~yare probably the onlyjel fi,hlersso far to be
en"relyuse:<'byacmlianoperatorandforsomcyears
10 come wIll be the last Sabres ~ yintt in Germany
The following descriptton applies to the Mk , 6.
princIpal dIfferences belween earlier 'I-1arks ha"ing
been d,scussed on tile pre<Xt.longtc~t. The Canadair
Sabre "'as pri,"!",arily desIgned as a sinBle-$(1It. hiBh
ipco:d,hillh,alll1udedayfiahter,c hamcterizedbya
swept bolck winK and emPl'nna~. but has also been
used to ~nack 1V0und or naval obj.,cti"e5 with
gunfire. bombs,chcmlcalsor rockets
T ~ ",inB i~ a ClOntd,,_cr monoplane featurinl a
mod,fied NACA 0012-64 .... ing section. It s depth is
10-8ft.all~root(ru5Clagca:ntreline)and5-4f1.
at the tip, "nh ma~imum thickness at SO pc.r cent.
chord. Swt'<:p back i~ 35 41' 31""1 25 per cent
chordhne. DIhedral Is3~grtt3and",:onllarea is
287·9 square f..,l. Automatically extendl". leadonl
edacslatsarefined.cxtcnsiondependingonairspecd
and ansle of attack.
The fusclage il an all-mctal, nush·ri'·ct~'d. strc'\Sed·
skin struc ture of oval sectiort "'ith hydrauhcally·
opcratcd lateral di,c bmkl'S. "hich opcn "ithlnt"o
.5C(:(lnds. Tlle lail is a canlik"cr monoplane. all·melal
Structu", ",ilh H dClrre!l ""eep back Qn all three
.... rfaceol. The horil.ontal stabili/.ers ha,.., 10 dCllrccs
dih<:dral.
The pilot is pmtected (0'-': and a(1 byarmour-plau
bulkheads. l'Q\<-'crplant i. Ihe Orenda 14 a~i31.nQ,,",
.11'\'. j', 4 ,~, It_CA.F. G"<Ob.>,,< uU," '"T~, G~Ide" !IQ •• ,'
;~ I~.i, ..,,,/;., cokM, KM"" "NI (beto-.,·) Ih, IN,,,,',
""'rAi"'''J'''''!'~''G''''fi"_~'''''
',ri," t~!;,/...~;· ~~:,::;;.:,~~,: ~16 i,~.:~~t~TR~'ft.;
Wh""wR.(·.A.1 '''''St<p,""" Pctn)
lur~Jet e-naine, pm'idinlappro~imalely 7,275 lb.
stnllcthruslalseale,'eL Aneloctricstarter-gc'l(:ralor
Unit is provided for slnrtinll on an c~ternal pov.er
source. . The engine fue~ S)'SICm consiSlS of 1"'0
cnllnc-d"""n v"droabk-delt"cry pumps, a propor_
tiona l flow ~'OnlrQI unit. ~kl1llion oonlrol un;l,
Je t pipe temperature limiler ~nd Qther components.
Engine re<;Juircmcnts are- sensed thmulll 1l SCI"\'Q'
mechanism which controls pump delivery acrQf<1inll
10 throtl le opcninll, Ram pressure and altItude arc
also controllinll factors. An ~n1CrlCncy fuel systcm
IsalsomSlalled,providinlmanualcontroloflhefuel
flow upon beinll set in operallon by a .wilch in the
l"OCk pil.
"Thcaircrafi fuclsyslemconsiSlsoffi"e-self·sealilli
fuel.cells: tWQm tbe fusclage, 0"" 10 lheccntre wIng
section and one!n each ouler "108 panel. Fuel is
supplied by gra"Ily feed from internal cells IQ I~
ccnlrc "inllccl1 and 10 the engine. Twof",,1 booster
pum~inthccentrctanknormallysupplyfuelunder
Pl"<'5su rctothee- n sinefuclsystem
Themainfudsupplycanbc:aulV'""ntetlbyinSlallinl
a I20-U.S. Gall. Or 2al-U_S. Gall. drop tank under
~3ch wing. from ",here-I! IS forced 10 theroN,ard fuel
:'~~."sp<Td "uJ)' .q Q s..bu 6. """ .... "i't~~~. ;'tA..iF:'i
 '." "1 No. ••• 1.. N ... S_I.I N...

>OI..J1l "/0,·",,1 "'oI ...... w . ..

t"fm£l:.l'f1
m·I160 11OC' ·1»1O

• ',A}' :
. " ~ j .
............1......" ... "",1,"' .,;"."" ... ' ..... '0 .... _ ~ • .
~~$:~iJto.io~it:r.+-:::,'t~,.:=:;<rJfol.;~j~ -', ~,r
co.: lI b~ ~omp ...."SSCd air drawn from ,he ~ngin~ com_
~,- ~ . -
pressor_lion
Three ~para,e h)'draulic S~SI(nl> ~rc provided:
u,illty, normal flight CQntrol and ah~rnale night
control. Tile ulllily s)'''cm is PQwcrtd by an engIne-
driven pump and supplies Ihe landing gear. speed
.;", ...... -
brakes, nose wheel "«rin8 and "h.:d b,..~kcs
T he !and,ns gear and "hoel fairing doors arc
hydrauhcally acluated and eloclf1cally oonlrOI\ed
and ~ucnced. Upon rais ing the gear handle 10
u r 'polIlI"'" 1he m,un gear doors and tile nose gear
door open and dQSC aUlomal>cally when IIle gears are
relraCted. For lowering Ihe gear s.eq""n~ is similar.
T he norl11al n ight conlrol syslem IS al"" powered by
thcena.il1e·dri~npumpandoperal .. theaileron.and
horizontal lail surfaces, T he altema,e /lighl cOl1trol
sy",c"" is po..-c.,cd byan eiectflcally·dfl""n p ump and
operates the aIleron. and horizonlal la,1 surfaco.:s in
tile e,,,,n, of normal sys1em f;tllu re. The rudder i~
cable'Operliled and i. provided ..-nh an elfl(.".ricall~
a~tualcd Irim ,ab. In emergency the main landln~
gear is I",.--ertd by gr~vilY and lhe nose gear by an
emergency acc~mulalor. The nose "~l sleerlng
system is eicctncallycngagcd bydepresslOg a SWItch
on the control stick grip and hydraulically powered filled. Each fl"p is "ctualc-d byilsuwncicclricm<Jwrs
.. nd oonlrolkd by ,he rudder pedals. and circuilS. They "rc mtthanicall~ intCTCQIHlCC1<d
Elcc'ricpo"",. i.provi<Jed bya28-voh,4())ampcrc topre~ntunc""nopcrn.ionnndlopro,j(\cprorOClive
engine_driven d.c. gene"""r. A 24-'01 •. J6 ampcre- opcralion .hould nne mOlor fail
hour ballery !\ervC"S a.~ a stand·by source. A mall' The Sabre i~ equipped wilh oon,em ional navigation
and an alternate thr«,phase inverter ~uppl ies ahcrnatc hgh lS. I'or 0I8hl operalion IWO retraclable lighls are
currenllO IIle fl,ghtlllstruments loca led In the fuselage nose, T hey are CQntrollcd by
Elecrrically-operared slolled -I YPC ",Ing flaps arc a s"i ' ch nn the lefl forward ~onS()le When the
To""f ,~, ",wd",w. baod~' r"", T",q.i~. r,u,"" • • 'ilA "'~_ 1 1I ;~6!1 CA.r. "'' ' 4'b"'i~'::;;~~.4]~.C":'-(r~"':tf S'~O';~~j."I'"
~wilch IS ~I EXTEND. both lights illumiml1e and
e><tendtolnndingposillon. WhenthealrcraFtlouches
the IIround. the landing lil!hl goes,?'-It and the la~1
light extcnd~ further to t,,,,,ioll pos,"on. IIothlighls
are automatically ~~tinguishc..:l "hen '" lh~ rctr~cled
positIOn.
1lw: canopy is el«tri,~lly opoenlted. controllable
frominsidcandout~id.andcan bejclllwned inca se
~~~C~~"cy. In-Ai&hl opoening is 1'O>.~iblc up to
Eigll1h.sl"8" air from th. engine compressor ..
dcli>'cred to the co.;kpil at selcclcd temperalun:' for
healing. , .. milation and pressunution. Abo"c matlcally-<lperale<.1 gun ch.1rgin, sy1tl'll1 ii IlI,Jtallod.
12.500 n. a 2·7~ p.s.L or a S P,5';. pressu..., ditf."'nl;al A ~nlo"able bomb 'lick can be IIlslulk..,J on ttu: lo".. r
~hedulcisa'·ailable. For brealhing, a lo ... pr~ur. surfaa. of each nu,,;r "lot I""~l. E.1ch mck "ill
oxygen s)'Slem ~'ith normal minimum p.....rure of c.orry si nlPe oonlbc\ from 100 10 1,<KXl lb., bomb
4OOp.5.i. IS prO"lded. dusters up 10 500 lb. size, a chcmiclll lank, or 0""
The communication equipment COnsiS1Cd initially fr.lglnCnlallon bomb n.lck assembly. The A-4 siiht
of the follo"in,,: an AN/ARC-S02 V.H.P. tr.ms· " u.... d for bomb SlgIIting an<! aUlomat;c Ix>1nb
mittcr-n.'Cei,·cr. an AN/A KN_6 radio compass and an
AI'X-6 1.I·.F._.adar. ThiS was laler changed. and ~~~~ncy ~~~~I~f ae~~r~~~~itl':,' .:~~~~~~
German Sabres were modernized by in"alling I;on bombs. Alternatively (;ghl rock(iJ may be
UHF radio and uhimal.ly TACAN n.aviga.ion carried u"dcr each w'''g on four mno~ablc rocket
equIpment. lau n<.:hers, udi h"lding ."0 rockcls 001: abo,-e the
For iliopoera.innaluse lheaircrafl is ctlUlI>[Jedwi.h other
an 1'.-4 gUIl_bomb-rockct sighl. Ran.ge data for Canada;, S"l"ores b<l\'e foxmcd 11>0: ba<:kbone of
gunnery operation IS supplied.IO lhe Sllh t by AN/ R,C.A..I·. fighter SII"V"8lh for 'Ie''Cral years. Salln:,
APG-SOI radar rdJllliog C-qUI]lIllCnt or by pilol· havc_n.andsliUdo~.sc.vicc;nmallypar.$orlhe
operated manual range coll1rol. T hrc." 'SO-cahbrc
machine gun, an: mounu:d on each .. de of.he cngine
airinluke. (This a,mament set h"" been standard on
all marks of Cunadair Sabres). Three hundred
~:E~a~~~~~uZ~~~ff£~::~:~~~~~:~
and no pilo. "ho e"er too~ a Sabre Ill) inlO the air
rounds of ammunition may be carned for cach lun, ha S: judgcd;1 other Il'Iall el'lhllsiaSlicall),
although llIe normal load 's 261 rounds. A p....'U. 1 G,r/'QrJJ"" •• 19M

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";'6.~'<t•• O:;'~~~_
, ,, , , ,.!;,-::,~ ,~ ,,, .;4M.~:.'!I"" '."

PRINTEO IN ENGLANO . .. p",m. P.Mi"",Ooo, L,d .. P.O. loo. U. l ..... ,h .... $." ••. Enllond
b, COO'I' Folk... & Son, L,d. 1o, H<CO'~"ooj.l . C;t\1" P' '' ,;nl Qi .. ,"oo. London.